Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Is it okay?

I was shocked to hear that someone in the Republican Party used campaign money to go to some nude bar. I was wondering what kind of expenditures do candidates claim for their campaigns? Are all their expenditures legitimate?

It just doesn't seem right for a candidate for public office to use campaign funds to pay a parking ticket. If the person got the ticket, the person should pay for it out of their own personal account and not their campaign finance fund.

According to the Ohio Secretary of State's website on campaign finance, Jon Husted, the Republican candidate for Secretary of State, used his campaign funds to pay his ($25) parking ticket on 10/16/2009 to the City of Columbus. He did pay another ticket ($100) to the Heath Photo Enforcement Program for another traffic violation on 8/29/09.


Of course, since I've never been a candidate for public office, I just don't know what is kosher and what is not. Do you think it is okay for a candidate to pay for a car out of his campaign funds? Husted did. He paid $17,090 on 7/13/09 to Beau Townsend Ford in Vandalia, Ohio, for an "automobile." (I'd like to know what kind of Ford you can get for that price. Somehow I can't imagine Husted driving a Ford Focus.) The next day, 7/14/09, he paid $340.97 out of his campaign fund for his auto insurance to State Farm. Is it okay to do this? (I've added this information from the Husted for Ohio expenditure page from the Ohio Secretary of State.)

BEAU TOWNSEND FORD INC

1020 WEST NATIONAL ROAD VANDALIA OH 45377 2009 500 07/13/2009
17090.04 AUTOMOBILE HUSTED FOR OHIO
STATE FARM AUTO INSURANCE

PO BOX 588002 NORTH METRO GA 30029 2009 500 07/14/2009
340.97 AUTO INSURANCE HUSTED FOR OHIO


If you'd like to explore more of Husted's or any other candidate's expenditures, visit the public information at the Ohio Secretary of State's website and look for campaign finance and expenditures. You'll get to see how the other half lives.